I left Istanbul for Sinop this
morning after watching the sunrise over the Bosporus. My hotel there has
a rooftop terrace, so I climbed up the spiral staircase during the morning
call to prayer at 5:40 local time. I am so jetlagged that I didn't sleep
a wink after midnight last night, so I figured it was a good opportunity
to enjoy early morning Istanbul. It was a sight: the six minarets of the
Blue Mosque were lit up behind me, and a towering anvil-shaped thunderhead
crackled with lightning to the east. Ships and their tugboats passed through
the narrow strait, weaving through the dozens of vessels waiting in the
Sea of Marmara. It was breezy and cool enough so that I shivered every
once in a while even though I was wearing a sweatshirt. I watched for
about 25 minutes, hoping the light would come up enough to get some pictures.
It didn't in time, so I left for the airport.

I got safely into Sinop just
after lunchtime today (Thursday) after a short flight from Istanbul and
long but trouble-free minibus ride from Samsun. There were eight of us
in the van: Martin Bowen, the WHOI ROV pilot who flew Jason Jr. down the
grand staircase of Titanic; PJ, a WHOI DSL technical and practical
wizard; Steve Gegg, a WHOI navigator / scientist; Priit Vesilund from
National Geographic Magazine, and three VIPs. The bus ride takes a little
more than three hours with a chai stop in the middle. We made good time
along the coastal plain, then after the tea break climbed through the
hairpin turns of the rugged hills that ring the Sinop peninsula. With
today's mostly sunny skies, the Black Sea looked more tropical than I've
ever seen it: blue water offshore, with turquoise hues inshore. When we
were only halfway into our ride we could see Boz Tepe, Sinop's extinct
volcano, across the bay.

Once in town, all of our Sinopian
friends poured out to greet us. After exchanging handshakes and hugs with
them, Martin and I skirted the locked customs gate and out the pier to
the ship. Dr. Ballard was there to greet us. He always seems to have something
exciting to report when we cross the fantail, getting us caught up in
the fever of the cruise. Naturally, the National Geographic film crew
shot the whole reception and interposed their microphone boom between
us. Dr. Ballard immediately shanghaied Martin to help iron out issues
with the vehicles. Cathy Offinger sent me back to town to shepherd the
VIPs to lunch and arrange to transport the luggage to the ship.

We had a big meal at one of
the floating restaurants in the harbor. Our Turkish friends, the VIPs,
and several of the team members all sat down to standard Sinop fare. Today
(and every day) the specials were tomato soup; a salad of greens, hard
boiled eggs, pickles, olives, and onions; fried cheese; stuffed peppers;
and goat cheese. The main course was a choice of the ubiquitous shish.
I had the safe bet, chicken.

Our group boarded the ship
with a howling northwest wind at our backs. To the north of the Sinop
peninsula, the sea is humped up pretty good. It is rough enough out there
so that the tankers and freighters passing through the area have all scuttled
into the lee of Boz Tepe. Looks like I'll have to get my sealegs quickly,
or be miserable for the next 24 hours while we bounce around. The forecast
is for the wind to diminish tomorrow, and we have things to do at the
dock in the morning anyway. Hopefully the sea will have flattened a bit
before we head offshore. It won't stay calm for long, I am sure. This
region is very windy in the fall (and summer...).

I managed to rack out for about
four hours after dinner tonight, while the crew that has been aboard since
Malta (two weeks ago) enjoyed a short liberty on shore. I haven't seen
any of them since I got up, so I expect they had a few beers in town and
then headed for their bunks as soon as they got back aboard.

It looks like a news blackout
will be imposed once we get offshore and start to investigate targets,
so I won't be able to report any discoveries. However, preparations have
been made for video tapes to be whisked to National Geographic headquarters
the minute we have good images from the seafloor.

That's all for now - I will
try to dash off updates as the cruise progresses.